


Fishbones

by OneBlueJay



Series: Naruto Merfolk AUs that No One Asked For [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Captivity, Kakashi is not having a good time, Kidnapping, M/M, Magic, Merpeople, Not Happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-03-04 23:18:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18822799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneBlueJay/pseuds/OneBlueJay
Summary: Kakashi would be the first to admit that he has a bad-habit of keeping secrets. Unfortunately for him, so does Obito.Featuring Obito the lovestruck moron, Madara the horrible uncle, and Kakashi the particularly violent fish.





	Fishbones

**Author's Note:**

> I just really love merfolk-AUs and ObiKaka.
> 
> CWs: Attempted suicide.

Kakashi couldn’t breathe. Air should be filling his lungs and yet he _couldn’t breathe_. 

Obito was banging on the glass, mouth open in a scream, but Kakashi couldn’t hear it. Soundproof glass, he realized. Smart. He collapsed to his knees. Freezing cold water sprayed his skin and soaked through the flimsy hospital gown he’d been forced into.

Behind Obito’s raging figure stood a shape that Kakashi guessed was Madara. _Had_ to be Madara. Because this wouldn’t be happening if it weren’t for Madara. 

No, no, that wasn’t right. This wouldn’t be happening if it weren’t for the fact that Kakashi had fallen for an Uchiha and that the damned, goggle-wearing Uchiha had _hidden his Uchiha-ness_. 

“ _Never trust a sorcerer,_ ” his father’s deep, long-dead bass echoed in his ear. Too little, too late. Kakashi heaved desperately and felt the involuntary pull in his gut.

Madara tilted his head and grinned, as if to remind Kakashi that all he had to do was _let go_ and he’d be able to breathe again. The lack of air only stopped his lungs from working, not his gills. Kakashi shook his head and slammed down on the urge to shift, burying it in his stomach under a layer of iron will. Kakashi would rather suffocate than give Uchiha Madara the slightest satisfaction.

Obito was gesticulating wildly now, head half-turned away even as his eyes flickered between Kakashi and the shape-that-was-Madara, probably screaming _see?! He’s just human!_ because the moron had never figured it out, even though Madara had realized five minutes after spotting Kakashi and his “nephew” on a coffee date. 

And so, here Kakashi was. A prop stuck in the middle of a family feud. Going to be killed to make a point and then probably skinned to make a profit.

But, he reminded himself, they couldn’t make that much of a profit if he didn’t shift. A siren’s body parts may have been worth twice their weight in gold, but human remains were chump change. And if he died human, his body would stay human.

A sick smile twisted Kakashi’s face as he felt his already sharp nails lengthen into talons, and he only allowed himself a pang of disappointment when horror flashed across Obito’s face.

Then he ripped out his own throat.

 

* * *

 

…And so here Kakashi was. A prop stuck in the middle of—

The thought stuttered to a halt. Kakashi’s back hit the glass as he stared down at his hand—his _still_ _human_ , entirely _non-bloodied_ hand. His body started hyperventilating even in the absence of air.

He’d ended it. He _remembered ending it_. 

Kakashi glanced around wildly.

So why was Madara still staring at him, more smug than ever, and why did Obito look so broken?

Terror took root in his soul, threatening the iron grip with which he was suppressing the instinct to shift. He had to do it again—he must have blacked out—he just needed to try again.

His hand moved toward his throat.

Obito gestured sharply.

Kakashi’s wrists slammed together over his head.

Horrified realization bloomed in Kakashi’s chest. His eyes snapped up to meet Obito’s. The Uchiha was crying, Kakashi realized. There were dark bags under his eyes, too, as if he hadn’t slept in days. When had those gotten there?

Kakashi’s vision was beginning to blur and the tug in his gut grew stronger. He had to stop this, had to _end it._ He felt tears prick his own eyes and in a last ditch effort slammed his head hard against the glass, already knowing it wouldn’t be enough. He didn’t have enough oxygen in his bloodstream to break open his skull.

Just don’t shift, he clung to the mantra. Just suffocate and don’t shift.

And he did. He held out as his vision went black, even as Obito wailed and screamed beyond the glass. He held out until he fell headfirst into the darkness and hoped that meant he’d died.

 

* * *

 

Kakashi first became aware of the sensation of warmth at his back. The world was hazy, melting and wobbling and oozing around him. Voices slunk past his ringing ears, sounding horribly unfamiliar except for one, which was crying. Why was it crying?

Kakashi’s eyelids fluttered open and blinked up at his lover. Obito was sobbing, his scarred face even redder and patchier than normal. Kakashi belatedly realized that he was half-slung over Obito’s lap, the other’s arms wrapped around his chest to press him against Obito’s stomach. The embrace was a bit rougher than normal, but Kakashi didn’t mind. He closed his eyes and let his head roll into the crook of Obito’s elbow, then inhaled contentedly.

It was the strange feeling of air rasping down his throat that alerted Kakashi to the fact that something was wrong.

His eyes snapped open again. 

The tank he’d been trapped in lay on its side, partially shattered and still dripping water. The handful of black-haired men and women—Uchiha, his brain supplied—didn’t seem to mind though. They looked far too excited. …why was that? And why did it seem such a horrible thing to him?

Kakashi realized that he needed to get up. He didn’t quite know why, but he needed to get up, and he opened his mouth to tell Obito so, only for an unwelcome trill to escape his lips.

And the reality of the situation came crashing down on him.

“ _I’msorry,I’msorry,I’msorry_ ,” Obito was chanting between choked breaths and heaves as he pulled Kakashi tighter to his chest. The movement made the scales of Kakashi’s tail pull uncomfortably against the floor of concrete and shattered glass, red already running in rivulets across it.

Panic swelled in his chest even as his limbs struggled to catch up. Obito needed to let him go, let him _go_ , _let me GO_. 

Kakashi twisted out of Obito’s hold, snarling. One of the other Uchiha, a young one, jolted forward, only to leap back with a yelp as Kakashi tail whipped across the floor, poison-coated spikes on full display. Kakashi bared his teeth maliciously and inhaled through his nose to sing and order them all (save Obito, of course) to just kill themselves—

Something dark flashed in the corner of his vision, then something cold and rigid slammed across his jaw and the bridge of his nose. His vision flashed white for a moment, and by the time it came back, whatever it was had already been securely fastened around the back of his head.

Kakashi screeched—he _knows_ that he screeched because he could feel the vibrations in his throat—but nothing came out. 

“ _I’msorry,I’msorry,I’msorry_ ,” Obito kept repeating somewhere behind him, the words buzzing in Kakashi’s ears relentlessly.

Kakashi attempted to rip the thing off with one hand even as he had to use the other to keep himself upright, but his talons slid uselessly over the bands and scraped against a patch of metal.

“It’s dragon leather,” Madara hummed. Kakashi whipped around to face the Uchiha patriarch, snarling behind the muzzle. Madara grinned. “You won’t be getting through that without a key or a hefty dose of magic.”

It was difficult to breathe. The air that trickled in was quickly becoming little more than humid carbon dioxide.

“I apologize for the rather rough manner we went about this, but I had to make a point. Normally, I’d just kill you and make mer-scale soup, sell some fins, pickle some—”

“ _Don’t you fucking touch him_.”

Madara sighed and gestured helplessly. “—but, as you can see, your association with my nephew has complicated things. And really, Obito, you’re in no position to be making demands.”

Obito’s shadow fell across Kakashi as he stood, glaring at the older Uchiha. “Don’t. Fucking. Touch. Him.”

Madara tilted his head, the grin slowly falling away. Kakashi was suddenly struck by an intense, bone-deep fear for Obito’s well-being. He reached forward to tug his lover back by the pant-leg, only to have every muscle in his body contract as liquid fire ripped through his veins.

“Kakashi? _Ohmygods, Kakashi_ —” Obito fell to his knees beside him, hands trembling against his back as he writhed, but the fire receded as quickly as it had come. Kakashi coughed (it didn’t make a sound) and shuddered. 

“As I was saying,” Madara continued with a flick of his hand, “though I would _normally_ take this opportunity to stock the apothecary, abnormal situations call for abnormal methods. And so, little siren, you’ve managed to win yourself some extra time so long as my nephew starts _actually doing his job._ ” Madara glared pointedly at Obito, who curled his lip in response. The older rolled his eyes, then frowned and began to circle them. Kakashi struggled to keep the warlock in his range of vision, watching to see if he might get lucky and have Madara step into striking distance.

“Shame you’re not an actual mer, though,” Madara mused. “Mer are always so much prettier. Not so gray and… _boring_.”

Kakashi wasn’t particularly offended by the statement (Madara was right, he wasn’t very pretty), but he couldn’t help but wilt when Obito didn’t respond. Not that he _wanted_ his boyfriend to rise to the bait, but the absence of Obito’s flustered protests and over-the-top rejoinders drove home the point that this wasn’t a normal situation. This wasn’t a situation Kakashi would be getting out of.

“I honestly don’t understand why Obito wasted his magic on you. _I_ would have respected your suicidal wishes, but Obito was a mess, couldn’t _stand_ seeing you bleed out in that tank, just had to turn back time.” Madara grinned. “Even if it _was_ what you wanted.”

Obito flinched at Kakashi’s side.

Kakashi flinched too. Because apparently his boyfriend (his boyfriend with _abandonment issues_ so deep that they were threaded into the fabric of his soul) could manipulate time. No wonder Madara was using Kakashi as leverage. That ability was priceless.

Obito, however, seemed to interpret Kakashi’s flinch as something else. “I’m _sorry,_ I-I just couldn’t—”

Kakashi wanted to soothe him with kind words and _it’s okay_ ’s and turned to do that as best he could without the luxury of language, only for something sharp to bury itself in his neck.

“—what the hell?”

Kakashi felt his arms go out from underneath him as he landed face-first in Obito’s lap. 

“Kakashi? Kakashi!”

Obito’s voice was muffled and Kakashi’s limbs felt unpleasantly numb. Did one of the Uchiha seriously just _poison dart him?!_

“Sorry, Obito, your pet doesn’t need to be awake for this bit,” hummed Madara’s annoying, bastard voice. “It’d be far too difficult to move while conscious.”

 

* * *

 

Kakashi woke this time to the sensation of floating. A clownfish the size of his pinky finger fluttered past his cheek. No muzzle this time. That was good.

_Bang. Bang._

Kakashi’s eyes snapped to where Uchiha Madara lounged in an office chair, hitting the glass with the toe of his boot. The shaggy-haired, pompous bastard was smiling. Kakashi realized with a growing sense of dread that he'd been dumped in a wall-to-wall aquarium in what looked like Madara’s private office. His eyes flickered around the room desperately, but there was no one else. No Obito. Just Madara. 

The Uchiha’s mouth moved, but the words didn't reach Kakashi’s ears.

Soundproof. Again.

**Author's Note:**

> A few world-building clarifications (just in case I write a sequel):
> 
> \- The world is generally modern, just with the addition of magic.
> 
> \- The Uchiha are a well-established, very-feared clan of sorcerors. Obito, however, has been attempting to live a "normal" life with his college boyfriend Kakashi, much to Madara's consternation.
> 
> \- In this universe, sirens and merfolk are distinct species. Merfolk are beautiful and generally admired rather than feared. Sirens, on the other hand, are considered vicious, S-class threats––hence why Kakashi was in hiding.
> 
> \- Both sirens and merfolk lose the ability to speak human languages when in their natural forms, but sirens make up for it with weaponized singing (a.k.a Kakashi could have killed the entire Uchiha clan if he'd just gotten a few notes out).


End file.
